Passenger
CVE-2018-12615
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Permission assignment review
|
| Impact | CVSS score of 5.3 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could access resources due to misconfigured permissions by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAI
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Incorrect Permission Assignment vulnerability could allow attackers to access resources due to misconfigured permissions.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Review and restrict file/resource permissions, apply principle of least privilege.
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in rubygems
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Incorrect Permission Assignment (CWE-732), which allows attackers to access resources due to misconfigured permissions. An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges. Affected products include: Phusion Passenger. Version information: before 5.3.2..
Know when Passenger gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
An issue was discovered in switchGroup() in agent/ExecHelper/ExecHelperMain.cpp in Phusion Passenger before 5.3.2. The set of groups (gidset) is not set correctly, leaving it up to randomness (i.e., uninitialized memory) which supplementary groups are actually being set while lowering privileges.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
During the spawning of a malicious Passenger-managed application, SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2 al
An Insecure Permissions vulnerability in SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2 causes information disclosu
In Phusion Passenger before 5.1.0, a known /tmp filename was used during passenger-install-nginx-module execution, which
An Incorrect Access Control vulnerability in SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2 allows a Passenger-mana
A race condition in the nginx module in Phusion Passenger 3.x through 5.x before 5.3.2 allows local escalation of privil
The http parser in Phusion Passenger 6.0.21 through 6.0.25 before 6.0.26 allows a denial of service during parsing of a
In agent/Core/SpawningKit/Spawner.h in Phusion Passenger 5.1.10 (fixed in Passenger Open Source 5.1.11 and Passenger Ent
Phusion Passenger gem before 3.0.21 and 4.0.x before 4.0.5 for Ruby allows local users to cause a denial of service (pre
ext/common/ServerInstanceDir.h in Phusion Passenger gem before 4.0.6 for Ruby allows local users to gain privileges or p
Phusion Passenger 4.0.37 allows local users to write to certain files and directories via a symlink attack on (1) contro
Phusion Passenger before 4.0.37 allows local users to write to certain files and directories via a symlink attack on (1)
Exploit-DB